Can a weighted vest boost your metabolism? What the research says

Proven Methods That Increase Calorie Burn, Including the Weighted Vest Method

If you've ever tried to get leaner, you've probably been given a way to "boost your metabolism". Usually that involves supplements or some other expensive shortcut that doesn't do very much.

The truth about metabolic rate is much less exciting. The biggest drivers of metabolism are things like how much muscle you have and how active you are throughout the day.

But there is one area of research that has got the calisthenics community talking - the idea that adding weight to your body might make you burn more energy.

If you've ever worn a weighted vest for a walk or a training session, you'll know that it feels a lot more demanding. So can a weighted vest increase calorie burn and support fat loss? Let's look at what we know.

What do people mean by "metabolism"?

When most people talk about metabolism, they really mean how many calories they burn each day. This is called “TDEE” (total daily energy expenditure). Your metabolic rate is only part of your TDEE.

TDEE is made up of several things:

• BMR - basal metabolic rate (the calories you’d expend if you were asleep)

• TEF - the energy used to digest food

• NEAT - everyday movement and generally being active

• Formal exercise

So what can you do to increase your “metabolism”? You could exercise more, but there’s a limit to how much any of us can train in a day.

The biggest win is NEAT – non exercise activity thermogenesis, or how many calories you burn by being active during the day. NEAT comes from walking, standing, climbing stairs, carrying shopping and even from things like fidgeting more.

Increase metabolism by building muscle

Before we get into the weighted vest debate, it’s worth mentioning the obvious. If you want to burn more calories, building muscle is one of the best things you can do.

Muscle tissue is metabolically active, which means it requires energy to maintain (compared to fat tissue). The difference isn’t as dramatic as some fitness influencers say, but carrying more lean muscle does increase your TDEE.

This is one reason calisthenics works so well. Calisthenics movements all build muscle all over the body, improving strength and movement quality at the same time.

And once bodyweight exercises become easy, adding a weighted vest gives you a way to keep progressing without changing the movement itself.

The gravitostat theory: why science got interested in weighted vests

Researchers in Sweden proposed the existence of something called the "gravitostat". The theory suggests that sensors in our bones help the body monitor how much weight it’s carrying.

Researchers found that overweight participants who wore heavy weighted vests for several hours per day lost more body fat than a control group wearing lighter vests. The theory is that when the body senses there’s more load going through the skeleton, it may respond by reducing appetite and increasing energy expenditure.

It's still an emerging area of research and there are plenty of unanswered questions. But it's one of the more interesting developments in weight-management research. And it’s based on actual physiology not than marketing hype.

Weighted vests for metabolism

If you were to ask me whether it’s worth wearing a weighted vest, I’d say that the gravitostat research is fascinating, but you don't need it to justify using a weighted vest. And you don’t have to want to lose weight to get the benefits.

More work requires more energy (supporting weight loss, but also general fitness). More load encourages more compensation (supporting muscle gain and strength). Adding weight to your body temporarily is a form of progressive overload.

One thing I've noticed around the calisthenics community is that weighted vest training encourages people to move more. Simple exercises become effective again, walks become cardio sessions. All that extra activity adds up. What’s not to like!

Why do calisthenics athletes wear weighted vests

For calisthenics athletes, weighted vests are primarily a strength tool and a great way to overload bodyweight exercises like:

• Pull ups

• Push ups

• Dips

• Squats

• Lunges

• Step ups

• Ring training

Unlike holding dumbbells or plates, the weight stays close to your centre of mass and the movement feels natural. That's why weighted vests have become such a big part of advanced calisthenics and streetlifting.

Any added calorie burn is a bonus, the real win is getting stronger and improving work capacity.

What about rucking for metabolism?

If you’ve spent any time around military fitness, you’ve probably heard the term rucking – it just means walking with load. It’s why the weighted vests from our sister brand Force Fitness are popular with people inspired by military-style training.

Rucking combines lots of the benefits we’ve already covered here:

• Increased energy output

• Low impact conditioning

• Improved work capacity

• Less recovery compared with running

Should you use a weighted vest to get leaner?

I wouldn't buy a weighted vest purely as a metabolism hack, because that’s missing the bigger picture. The research around the gravitostat is promising, but I don’t think you even need that to justify using a weighted vest. If you’re already doing calisthenics, walking regularly, or looking for a way to make bodyweight training more challenging, a weighted vest can help increase your overall energy expenditure.

My best advice for ‘boosting metabolism’

The best way to boost your metabolism is increasing how much you move (ideally without having to overthink it). That’s where weighted vest training comes in – wearing a vest makes walking more challenging, adds load to bodyweight exercises, and helps you build more muscle.

If you’ve been using a weighted vest already, I’m interested to know how you’ve slotted it into your training.